Monday, February 1, 2010

Harvest Monday - 1 February 2010

The first harvest of the year! Kale: 2.2oz. OK so it isn't much, but it is a harvest. The kale survived under all the snow. We had a good melt out. Not enough to get rid of all the snow cover, but enough to get to the kale. Whoohoo!

The stores continue to be eaten up slowly. Above is lunch. I would call it leftovers, which the meat is since it is leftover from a restaurant meal, but my son insists that what I make to just leave in the fridge can't be called a left over. I often have coleslaw made in the fridge for no particular meal. The coleslaw is from cabbage from the farmers market from ages ago. It is amazing how long cabbage will keep. The squash casserole I also make to keep in the fridge for whenever. It is made from frozen squash from the garden and farmers market. I mix the squashes when I puree them.

This meal of a sweet potato and bean burrito is probably more typical of my use of garden produce.

The only things in it from the garden are coriander and garlic.

And a pepper from the ristra. Sadly the black beans weren't mine. I do still have a small bit of mine left and I'll have to cook them up soon.

Next week I hope to have my new tally up. I have been spending money and keeping track. Now that I had a harvest I don't feel so bad about it. My next real harvest probably won't be until spring, but at least I've had something.

If you would like to join me in Harvest Monday, put your name and URL into Mr. Linky below. It doesn't matter how big or small your harvest is. If you have had a harvest this last week, show us and join in!

Lovely kale. It's supposed to taste even better after a freeze. It never freezes here in southern CA, so I wouldn't know. I stirfry mine with pecans and dried cranberries, with a splast of a good vinegar, like raspberry or citrus champagne vinegar.

On another topic, my hens are here and cackling away in the backyard! Please stop by my blog to see them. I hope to add eggs to my harvest Monday next week.

Hey Daphne, have you heard of the sweet peppers that you can dry. I have seen some seeds for these in various Italian sources. I'm interested in trying these as I love rastras and have had luck with various hot peppers.

Mac, lol don't kill yourself to do it, but we would love to see what you have every week. I'm the only one required to post every week (some weeks I wish I didn't have to, like when I have absolutely nothing and no photos).

kitsapFG, it is a strange combo, but really good. It makes for a rich tasting burrito.

GrafixMuse, I need more kale next year so I can harvest more in the winter.

The Mom, I cheated. I picked it right before the deep freeze came back.

NoviceLive, you're welcome.

EG, you do need to try kale. It is very tasty.

Lou Murray, I've never had it with nuts. It sounds delicious. An egg harvest would be great. I have to get my eggs from the local farm, but I really wish I had chickens.

Michelle, I agree.

Grower Jim, wow that is a lot of fruit.

A kitchen Garden in Kihei Maui, Kale is amazingly hardy. It is the first yar I grew it and wasn't sure how it would do under all the snow. But it came out well. Only one leaf looked a little frost bitten.

Ottawa Gardener, no I haven't. I've only tried the thin walled chilies. If you try it let us all know because it would make a great seasoning.

Nice to have a harvest this time of year! You know I have never eaten kale before. I grew some for the first time this fall but the slugs and low light did them in. I foraged for a harvest on Sunday but to recent 5f weather has wilted everything again. Maybe next week.... or spring :-)

About Me

I've been gardening for almost three decades now, ever since my husband and I bought our first house. Every garden has been different. The first was small and the soil was almost pure sand. The second was larger and I had heavy clay. The third and current one which is just outside of Boston, is by far the largest even though the lot is by far the smallest. Since we bought the house new, we designed the landscaping ourselves, and the soil we added was fairly good. My challenge here is the location. We are so close to our neighbors that their houses can shade the garden.